Pill dispensing container



Nov. 25, 1969 H. w. RIGOR PILL DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed July 20, 1967 FIG.2.

FIGS.

FIGS.

INVENTOR. HERBERT W. PJGOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,480,182 PILL DISPENSING CONTAINER Herbert W. Rigor, 685 Quartz Way, Broomfield, Colo. 80020 Filed July 20, 1967, Ser. No. 654,856 Int. Cl. B65d /72 U.S. Cl. 221288 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a pill bottle equipped with a radially-slitted flexible membrane covering the mouth thereof and a cooperating screw-type closure therefor that carries a cup-shaped insert with a toothed-edge operable upon rotation to wriggle the leaves of the membrane so as to agitate the contents and cause a single pill to work its way past said membrane into the closure for removal therewith.

Many attempts have been made in the past to design a pill dispenser which would discharge pills one at a time from a container filled therewith. While many of these units were entirely workable for the purpose intended, most of them were much too complicated and expensive to be of any practical value. The few that are simple enough to be practical from a commercial standpoint, generally have serious deficiencies in terms of failing to perform their intended function.

Perhaps that most bothersome problem with the simplified prior art one at a time pill dispensers is that of the pills or tablets becoming stacked and jammed in the container. When this occurs, liberating a single pill from the stack to be dispensed becomes extremely troublesome and the user oftentimes loses patience with the entire procedure preferring to use the conventional widemouth bottle. In other words, if a dispenser of this type Works only half the time, it is far easier to pour out several pills from an ordinary pill bottle and put all but one back.

The solution to this problem is obviously one of agitation of the pills so as to free them one at a time for entry into the dispensing mechanism. Unfortunately, few, if any, of the prior art dispensers make any provision for agitation and it is left up to the user to shake the contents in some manner until one of the pills drop into the magazine. Such a procedure is not only a bother, it all too often results in the tablets breaking and slufiing off, capsules coming apart and other undesirable consequences. In addition, the same vigorous agitation that frees a pill for entry into the dispenser magazine will, just as frequently, remove same and it is hard to stop the shaking action at the precise point where the desired result has been achieved.

It has now been found in accordance with the teaching of the instant invention that a one at a time pill dispenser can be made which incorporates a self-contained agitator as an integral part thereof which functions automatically during the dispensing operation to mildly agitate the pills without breaking or otherwise damaging them to insure a single pill being delivered intact to the dispensing mechanism. No violent shaking of the contents occurs or is required and, once a pill enters the discharge mechanism, continued agitation of the contents will not remove same therefrom.

Most important, the device is quite easy and inexpensive to make while, at the same time, resulting in nearly reliability. The principle of operation is such that it can be applied to various sizes and shapes of pills as well as a variety of container designs.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved mechanism for dispensing pills one at a time which incorporates as a part thereof an agitator.

A second objective of the invention herein disclosed and claimed is the provision of a pill-dispensing device that can be adapted easily for use as a closure on any of the standard medicine bottles.

Another object is to provide a dispensing container whose pill-agitating action is such that it insures nearly 100% reliability in discharging pills one at a time.

Still another objective of the instant invention is the provision of a one at a time pill dispenser that is so simple to operate even small children have no difficulty therewith.

An additional object is to provide an automatic mechanical agitator for use with a leaf-type gate that moves the contents around near the mouth of the container sufficiently to insure filling the pill magazine with a single pill, yet, does so gently enough to eliminate any possibility that damage to the contents results therefrom.

Further objects are to provide a pill-dispenser of the wobbling-leaf type that is inexpensive, simple, foolproof in operation, versatile, lightweight, compact, dependable and fast.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out specifically hereinafter in connection with the description of the drawings that follows, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diametrical section showing the dispensing mechanism of the present invention attached in place in the neck of a pill bottle;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary diametrical section similar to FIGURE 1 showing the bendable leaves of the membrane in the neck of the bottle sprung into position closing the mouth thereof at the point where the closure is almost completely unscrewed, the latter having been indicated by dotted lines;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the inside of the closure; and,

FIGURE 6 is a diametrical section through the closure.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed descrip tion of the present invention and, initially, to FIGURES 1 and 2 for this purpose, reference numeral 10 has been employed to designate a medicine bottle in a general way and numeral 12 to similarly designate the pill-dispensing mechanism disposed in the threaded neck 14 thereof. In the particular form shown, bottle 10 has a hollow rectangular body 16 terminating in the centrally-located tubular neck 14 which, as aforesaid, is threaded to accept a cap-type closure. The shape of the body of the bottle is immaterial and the one illustrated is intended as being merely representative of the general class of pill and tablet bottles that would function equally well if equipped with the pill-dispensing unit of the instant invention. As for the neck 14 of the bottle, the springable-leafed membrane that has been broadly referred to by reference numeral 18 and which forms an element of the dispenser unit, has been shown asv forming an integral part of the bottle neck and, therefore, the bottle 16 is of special design; however, it is important that one realize that the aforementioned element of the dispenser assembly could, just as well, take the form of a separate tubular insert to be cemented or otherwise fastened within the neck of an ordinary medicine bottle in which event nearly any type having an externally-threaded tubular neck could be used.

The remainder of the pill-dispenser unit consists of a cap-subassembly that is most clearly revealed in FIG- URES 5 and 6 and which has been designated by reference numeral 20. The latter subassembly performs the function of a conventional screw-cap closure and, in addition, functions as the agitator that wriggles the leaves of the membrane 18 as well as providing the cup-shaped receptacle 22 into which the single pill drops.

As far as details are concerned, it would, perhaps, be well to start with the flexible-leafed membrane 18 which is revealed in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4 to which specific reference will now be made. In its normal or closed position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, membrane 18 has an upstanding right conical shape when viewed with the bottle upside down in dispensing position. Projecting downwardly and outward radially from the apex of the conical surface are a plurality of equi-angularly-spaced slits 24 that divide said membrane into several V-shaped tongues or leaves 26. These leaves are moulded from some flexible non-toxic springable material like polyethylene so as to be normally-biased into the closed position of FIG- URES 3 and 4. Obviously, when in this position, these membrane leaves 26 cover and close the open mouth of the bottle and prevent any pills, tablets or capsules contained therein from being withdrawn. In fac the weight of the contents will act upon the surfaces of the leaves exposed thereto to keep them closed due to their upward and inward inclination. Thus, with the cap subassembly removed as shown in FIGURE 3, no pill can be taken from the bottle unless it has already passed beyond membrane 18, a procedure which will now be explained in connection with FIGURES l, 2, 5 and 6.

Cap subassembly 20 comprises an ordinary internallythreaded screw cap 28 adapted to mate with the threaded neck 14 of the bottle except that said cap has been modified to include an upstanding centrally-located tubular insert 30 that lies in spaced concentric relation inside the internally-threaded cylindrical wall 32 thereof. Tubular insert 30 cooperates with the wall of the cap to which it is attached to define the cup-shaped receptacle 22. Now, the annular space 34 between the cap wall 32 and insert 30 is sized to readily accept the tubular bottle neck 14 as in FIGURE 1. The length of this insert is such that with the cap screwed on tight, it will engage the leaves 26 of membrane 18 and spread them open as in FIGURES 1 and 2 so that an opening 36 is left therebetween sufiicient in size to pass a single pill or tablet of the type kept in the bottle. Accordingly, with the cap screwed on tight to bias the leaves 26 into open position and the bottle inverted, the chances are fair that a single pill will drop through opening 36 and be deposited in the cup-shaped receptacle 22. If not, steps must taken to agitate or shift the pills around that are jamming opening 36 until one falls therethrough.

In accordance with the teaching of the instant invention, this necessary agitation of the contents is accomplished not by shaking the bottle as was true with most, if not all, of the prior art single pill dispensers; but, instead, by the simple but unobvious expedient of notching the edge of the tubular insert 30 that engages the leaves of the membrane so as to form several large teeth 40 thereon. These teeth 40 cooperate with the leaves 26 of the membrane 18 to wriggle the latter as the cap is being rotated to remove same. More precisely, the pointed ends of the V-shaped teeth drop one after the other into the V-shaped notches left between the leaves when sprung into open position,

I thereby, allowing them to partially close just prior to their being sprung out once again as the teeth pass therebeneath, In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown, there are more leaves than teeth so that some of the leaves are partially collapsed while others are extended. The resulting action is one of the leaves Waving in and out successively as they move progressively toward closed position. In fact, the ideal arrangement is that illustrated in the drawings in which there are twice as many leaves as teeth. When this is done, alternate leaveswill be partially collapsed to rest near the base of the V-shaped notches between the teeth while the other half are open resting atop the points of the teeth. The result of this movement of the leaves is to agitate those pills lying against and in close proximity to the leaves thereby breaking up any jammed stacks thereof and liberating one to drop through opening 36. In practice, this action is so effective that a pill is missed less than 1% of the time; whereas, without this feature, it will fail to deposit a pill in the cup-shaped receptacle as high as 50% of the time. All of this takes place, of course, while the cap is being unscrewed and, once removed, a single pill will be present in receptacle 22 while the remaining ones areleft inside the container behind membrane 18 which has moved into closed position.

Having thus described the several useful and novel features of the present invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent that the many worthwhile objectives for which it was designed have been achieved. Although buta single specific embodiment of the pill dispensing assembly has been illustrated and described, I realize that certain changes and modifications therein may well occur to those skilled in the art within the broad teaching hereof; hence, it is my intention that the scope of protection afforded hereby shall be limited only insofar as said limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispenser unit for use in dispensing tablets and the like from a container therefor of the type having an externally-threaded neck which comprises: a flexible membrane permanently fastened within the neck of the container forming a closure therefor, said membrane having a plurality of radially-extending angularly-spaced slits therein emanating from a common center that cooperate With one another to produce a plurality of V- shaped bendable leaves adapted to be sprung inwardly so as to leave a central opening therebetween; and, a removable cap subassembly including an internallythreaded generally cup-shaped cap adapted to be screwed onto the threaded neck of the container to form a closure therefor and an inwardly-extending tubular insert fastened centrally to the top of the cap sized for insertion into the neck of the container when said cap subassembly is screwed in place thereon, said insert being of a length F sufficient to engage said membrane when said cap subassembly is screwed on the container neck and spring the leaves thereof inwardly a suflicient distance to pass a single tablet through the opening therebetween so as to allow same to drop into a cup-shaped receiver formed by said insert and the cap wall to which it is fastened when the container is turned upside down, and said insert having a plurality of generally V-shaped notches in the free edge thereof defining teeth adapted to engage the leaves of the membrane and wriggle them to agitate the contents of the container upon rotation of the cap subassembly in a direction to remove same.

2. The dispenser unit as set forth in claim 1 in which: the membrane is cone-shaped with the apex thereof extending into the container when the leaves are released into their normally-closed position.-

3. The dispenser unit as set forth in claim 1 in which: the number of leaves in the membrane exceed the number of teeth on the edge of the insert so that rotation of the latter will result in the leaves wriggling out of phase with one another. 1

5 6 4. The dispenser unit as set forth in claim 3 in which: 3,182,694 5/ 1965 Raimo 222-490 XR there are twice the number of leaves in the membrane as there are teeth on the insert so that alternate leaves will FOREIGN PATENTS be partially collapsed into the notches between the teeth 267,342 6/1965 Australia. while the remaining leaves are open resting atop the points 5 thereof. SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner References Cited US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,758,755 8/1956 Schafier 222-490 XR 222490 2,957,503 10/1960 Stifter 222-490 XR 10 

